Packaging machine and method



1962 J. NEAL ETAI. 3,063,209

PACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 9, 1959 15 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTORS. Monms P. NEAL JAMES L.NEAL

VLVAN v. DICE BY 4 2 Q4 ATTORNE Y Nov. 13, 1962 J. 1.. NEAL ET ALPACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD l5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 9, 1959 JULZOE-4km 03255 I '1 I1 [I H ZOfPdPm 023523 INVENTORS. MoQms P. NEAL JAMES1.. NEAL BY LVAN v mce ATTORNEY Nov. 13, 1962 J. L. NEAL ET AL 3,063,209

PACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 9, 1959 15 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTORS. MOlZQlS QNEAL J MES 1.. NEAL LVAN v. mcE

BY 4 2. M

ATTORNEY 1962 J. 1.. NEAL ET AL 3,063,209

PACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Dot. 9, 1959 15 Sheets-Sheet 4INVENTORS. Moams P- NEAL JAMES L. NEAL YLVAN v. DICE Q. MA

ATTORNEY NOV- 13, 1 6 J. NEAL ET Al. 3,063,209

PACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 9, 1959 15 Sheets-Sheet 5INVENTORS ATTORNEY Nov. 13, 1962 J. L. NEAL ET AL 3,063,209

PACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 9, 1959 15 Sheets-Sheet 6INVENTORS. Monzrus v. NEAL JAMES L. NEAL ATTORNEY Nov. 13, 1962 J. NEALET Al. 3,063,209

PACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 9, 1959 15 Sheets-Sheet 7INVENTORS. MOQIZIS P. NEAL JAMES L. NEAL LVAN V. D\Q,E

ATTORNEY Nov. 13, 1962 J. L. NEAL ET AL 3,063,209

PACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 9, 1959 15 Sheets-Sheet 8INVENTORS.

JAMES L'. NEAL s LVAN V. was

AQQJ

ATTORNEY Nov. 13, 1962 J. NEAL ET AL 3,063,209

PACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 9, 1959 15 Sheets-Sheet 9INVENTORS. Moms P. NEAL JAMES L. AL

YLVAN v DICE ATTORNEY 1962 J. 1.. NEAL ET AL 3,063,209

PACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 9, 1959 15 Sheets-Sheet 1OATTORNEY INVENTORS.

1962 J. NEAL ET Al. 3,063,209

I PACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 9, 1959 15 Sheets-Sheet l lAMES L. NEAL SY LVAN V. DICE z;- ./a. I BY y z ggd) A T TORNEY 1962 J.NEAL ET AL 3,063,209

PACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 9, 1959 15 Sheets-Sheet 12INVENTORS. MOQQI$ NEAL JAMES NEAL. SYLVAN .olce

ATTORNEY N 3, 1962 J. 1.. NEAL ET AL 3,063,209

PACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 9, 1959 15 Sheets-Sheet 13INVENTORS. MORRlS P. NEAL JAMES L. NEAL S LVAN V. D\Q.E

5 ML Q. dew

A T TORNE Y 1962 J. L. NEAL ET AL 3,0 3,209

PACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD Filed Oct. 9, 1959 15 Sheets-Sheet 14INVENTORS. MOR\2\$ p. NEAL JAMES 1.. NEAL vwm v. mce

" WL Q1240 ATTORNEY J. L. NEAL ET AL PACKAGING MACHINE AND METHOD Nov.13, 1962 15 Sheets-Sheet 15 Filed 001;. 9, 1959 INVENTORS. Moxzms P.NEAL JAMES L. NEAL SYLVAN DKZE BY fil (44.0

ATTORNEY 3,063,209 PACKAGING MACHINE AND METIIGD James I... Neal, MorrisP. Neal, and Sylvan V. Dice,

Clearwater, Fla., assignors to A-B-C Packaging Machine Corporation,Clearwater, Fla., a corporation of Florida Filed Oct. 9, 1959, Ser. No.845,442 26 Claims. (Cl. 53--29) This invention relates to a device forremoving folded cartons from a pile, setting them up, loading cans intothem and closing all the flaps .of the cartons, at a high rate of speedand with an extreme minimum of jamming, skipping of cartons and otherdifiiculties. The cartons may be of corrugated paper board and the cansmay be empty or full.

The particular advantages of the device of our invention and the meanswhereby the objectives are accomplished are described below inconnection with the de tailed description.

The most important, outstanding and significant advantage of our machineis its extremely high rate of speed. The speed is so great that themachine can handle cases at a higher rate than cans can be fed into themachine, and can load cans into cases at a higher rate than cans can befed into the machine, and can load cans into cases at a higher rate thancan can be introduced into the loading station. Therefore, it is asignificant advantage of the machine and unique with respect to machinesof this type that the machine has a speed which is limited only by therate at which cans can be fed to the machine.

An object of the invention is to provide such a machine which will notfail or jam if One or more of the cartons in the pile which is fed tothe machine are jammed or battered.

Another object is such a machine which operates at an especialy highrate of speed with a minimum of malfunctioning.

Other objects will become apparent from the drawings and from thefollowing detailed description in which it is intended to illustrate theapplicability of the invention without thereby limiting its scope toless than that of all equivalents which will be apparent to one skilledin the art. In the drawings like reference numerals refer to like partsand:

FIGURE 1 is a partially schematic elevation of one embodiment of themachine of the invention, taken from what will be called herein, as aconvention, the right hand side;

FIGURE 2 is a partially schematic plan View of the machine of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a detailed elevation from the right hand side of theunpiling station portion of the machine of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a partially cutaway and elevation of the portion of FIGURE3, taken from the left end;

FIGURE 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the portion of FIGURES 3and 4 taken on line A-A in FIG- URE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary cross-sectional View taken on line BB inFIGURE 3;

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary enlarged cutaway elevation of a portion of thedrive mechanism;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a modification of theembodiment of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the modifiedembodiment of FIGURE 8 wherein the elements thereof are in a differentposition;

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary detailed elevation of the setup stationportion of the machine of the embodiment of FIGURE 1, taken from thelefthand side;

FIGURE 11 is a partially cutaway, cross-sectional de- 3,fi3,29 PatentedNov. 13, 1%62 inc tailed view of a portion of the embodiment of FIGURE 1which is shown in FIGURE 10, taken on lines (3-0 in FIGURE 10;

FIGURE 12 is a detailed cross-sectional view of one of the elements ofFIGURES 10 and 11;

FIGURE 13 is an elevation corresponding to FIGURE 10, of a portion of amechanism of FIGURE 10 showing some of the elements thereof in adifferent position;

FIGURE 14 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view from the same point asFIGURE 11, of a portion of a mechanism of :FIGURE 11 showing someelements of FIG- URE 11 in a different position;

FIGURE 15 is a detailed plan view of the loading station portion of theembodiments of FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 16 is a fragmentarycutaway detailed plan view of a portion of themechanism for operating one of the elements of FIGURE 15 taken on lineE-E in FIG- URE 15;

FIGURE 17 is a cross-sectional detailed view of the portion of FIGURE 15taken on line DD in FIGURE 15;

FIGURE 18 is a cross-sectional detailed view corresponding to FIGURE 17showing some of the elements thereof in a different position;

FIGURE 19 is .a partially schematic, partially fragmentarycross-sectional view of a modified embodiment taken from the same pointas FIGURE 17;

FIGURE 20 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view corresponding toFIGURES 17, 18 and 19, showing a portion of the elements thereof in adifferent position;

FIGURE 21 is a schematic plan view of a modified embodiment of a portionof the loading station;

FIGURE 22 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on line F-F inFIGURE 21;

FIGURE 23 is a fragmentary elevation taken on line GG in FIGURE 21;

FIGURE 24 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a portion of amodified embodiment of the loading station taken at about the center ofthe loading station;

FIGURE 25 is a fragmentary schematic cross-sectional view correspondingto FIGURE 24 showing a different position of part of the elementstherein; 9

FIGURE 26 is a cutaway, fragmentary plan view of a modified embodimentof a portion of the loading station;

FIGURE 27 is an elevation of the modification of FIGURE 26;

FIGURE 28 is a cross-sectional view of the modification of FIGURES 26and 27 taken on a plane corresponding to line H-H in each of FIGURES 26and 27;

FIGURE 29 is a fragmentary elevation of switching mechanism;

FIGURE 30 is a cross-sectional view taken on lines J--] in FIGURE 29;

FIGURE 31 is a fragmentary view of a portion of FIGURE 29 plusadditional elements, showing change of position;

LFIGURE 32 is a fragmentary view of elements from FIGURES 29 and 30; and

FIGURE 33 is a fragmentary View of elements from FIGURES 29 and 30.

For convenience, the detailed description of the machine has beendivided into sections devoted to several stations. At each of thestations a carton passing through the machine is maintained stationaryfor a certain length of time.

The first station comprises means for maintaining a pile of cartons andfeeding cartons one at a time from the pile to the next station. It hasbeen designated the unpiling station and may also be referred tovariously as the magazine station or feeding station. The second stationis referred to as the set up station and at this station each foldedcarton is set up, that is, unfolded into rectangular form. It is alsopreferred to close two of the flaps at this station. Following the setup station, the case travels to the loading station where cans areloaded into the case. As a fiiial step, loaded cases are removed fromthe loading station and one or more additional flaps may be closed. Theloaded cases may then be transported to storage areas or to othermachines by any sendable method.

No means are shown for maintaining the flaps closed, as by bonding orgluing with cement or adhesive or by fastening with staples or the like,but, if desired such means may be added to the machine or provided in amachine through which the cases may pass after leaving the machine ofthe invention.

The machine of the invention may be utilized in many instances to loadempty cans into cases which are then not securely fastened shut but aretransported to areas where the cans are filled, the cans first beingremoved from the cases, then filled and then reloaded into the caseswhereupon the flaps of the cases are then sealed closed. The containersreferred to herein generally as cans will be understood from thedescription to be any sort of container, filled or unfilled, and notlimited as to material of construction, size, shape or number which maybe packed in a carton. Thus they may be of cardboard, glass or metal andmay be cylindrical or rectangular and may be packed as few as one to acarton.

The main frame of the machine comprises right main frame member 10 andleft main frame member 10'.

The machine may be supported by tubular upright frame members 7 andtubular horizontal members 8 and held thereby in an angular position tocause cans 100 to roll or slide into the loading station by gravity.

In FIGURES 1 and 2 there are shown inclined tracks 331 down which cans100 are fed into the machine. A part of the lowermost track 331 is ahinged plate 326 pivotally mounted on shaft 327. The plate is forceddownward by the weight of cans 100 to thereby close switch 328. If thereare no cans on plate 326 it is raised by the action of counterweight329, which opens switch 328 to stop the machine, by reason of switch 328being wired in series with a control for the main drive of the machine.

Unpz'ling Station At this station the machine maintains a pile of foldedcartons each lying in a horizontal position and each piled one aboveanother, removes one carton at a time from the bottom of the pile andfeeds each such carton to the next station.

The frame of the magazine is provided by bars 11 and 12 which aresupported by cross bars 13, the lowermost three of bars 13 beingattached to and supported by main frame members 10 and 11). Cross bars13 are threaded to permit adjustment of the lateral spacing of bars 11to accommodate various sizes of cartons.

To the bars 11 are attached walls 14 which hold the pile of foldedcarton in lateral position. The bars 12 hold the cartons in fore or aftposition.

Between frame members 10 and 10 are sprockets 15 and 16 which carrychains 17. Attached to chains 17 are lugs 18 which carry the cartonsfrom one stage to the next along main frame members 10 and 10. A secondchain 19 is mounted in a frame 20 and has lugs 21 thereon which movefrom stage to stage simultaneously with lugs 18. The chain 19 is drivenintermittently from ratchet wheel 22 thru gear 27, pinion 28, sprocket33, chain 34, gears 35 and 36 (which reverse the direction of rotation)and chain 37, as shown in FIGURE 1.

The intermittent movement of chain 17 is obtained by means of theratchet wheel 22 and pawl 23 mounted on arm 24 (see FIGURES 1 and 7).Arm 24 is driven by crank 25 acting thereon, crank 25 being driven bymain drive motor 29 which drives chain 30 which passes over sprocket 31attached to shaft 32 to which crank 25 is firmly attached. The ratchetwheel 22 drives gear 27 engaging a pinion 28 fastened to the shaft ofsprocket 16. The gear ratio is 4 to 1, so that degree rotation of theratchet wheel will cause one complete turn of sprocket 16.

Before lugs 18 engage a folded carton, and to make sure that only onecarton is carried forward at a time, additional driving means isprovided, as shown especially in FIGURE 5 and also in FIGURES 3 and 4,to select one carton and position it for the lugs to carry forward. Thismeans comprises arm 39 and finger 40. Arm 39 is mounted on a bar 41which is held by spring 38 downwardly against roller 42 adjustable forheight by rotation of rotatable eccentric shaft 43. Bar 41 isreciprocated by arm 44 which is pivotally attached at 50 to arm 41 andpivotally mounted on fixed shaft 51. Cam follower roller 45 is attachedto plate 44 and driven by cam 46 to impart motion to plate 44. Cam 46 isrotatably driven at a speed determined from that of main chains 17, byreason of drive chain 47 being driven by a sprocket mounted on the shafton which sprocket 15 is mounted.

Arm 39 is shown in FIGURE 3 in a retracted position. Finger 40 may bewedge shaped as shown and when the arm is carried forward by the cam, isshown in FIGURE 5, finger 46 can separate the lowest carton from thecarton next above at its rearward edge. Arm 39 can then carry it forwardto break any adhesion between the lowest carton and the next carton.

Cam 46 may be rotatably adjustable on shaft 52 in relation to sprocket53 which is rigidly affixed to shaft 52 and driven by the chain drive47. Such adjustment permits timing of the drive so that the separatingaction of finger 40 and driving action of arm 39 take place just beforethe lugs 18 begin to drive the carton forward.

Folded cartons 9 may be partly supported by angle members 48 as shown inFIGURE 6, but the greater part of the weight of the pile of cartons 9may be carried by the rollers 49 to reduce the force required to driveeach bottom carton forward out from under the pile and thereby preventdamage to the edge of the cartons by the driving lugs 18.

To further reduce the force required to slide each bottom carton outfrom under the pile, lifting plates 66 and 60' may be placed at eachside of the magazine. These plates may be fixed to bars 61 and 61pivotally mounted in bearings 59 and 59' and can be turned by cranks 62and 62' through an angle of 45 degrees. The plates 60 and 60' are shownin their inoperative position in FIGURE 4. In FIGURE 6 the plates areturned to their lifting position in which they lift the cartons 9 whilethe lowest carton is removed; then the plates are returned to theposition in FIGURE 4 to allow the cartons to feed downward.

Cranks 62 and 62 may be operated by compressed air cylinders 64 whichact directly against cranks 62 which in turn drive cranks 62 throughlinks 58. The air to the cylinders may be regulated by suitable valvesand 'cams (not shown), but driven by chain 17. The return stroke of eachcylinder may be made by the action of an internal spring within eachcylinder.

In the alternative method of lifting the folded cartons as shown inFIGURES 8 and 9 there may be provided at each side of the magazine aplate 65 having at its inner surface a layer of foam rubber or likespongy material 46. Plates 65 may be supported by slotted brackets 67mounted on pins 68 carried by arms 69. Arms 69 may be fixed to shafts 70and 71 and the upper shaft 70 may have an arm 72 connected to a cylinder64.

When air is admitted to cylinder 64, arms 69 move plates 65 inward andupward. Arms 69 may have cylindrical surfaces 73 so that when the plates65 reach the position shown in FIGURE 9, the plates are moved upwardonly, with the cylindrical surfaces 73 maintaining a constant pressureon the plates to lift the cartons. Plates 65 and brackets 67 form theconnections by which the lower arms are caused to follow the movement ofthe upper arms, that is, serve the function of links 58 in theembodiment of FIGURES 3, 4 and 6.

Set-Up Station At this station the cases are unfolded and two of theflaps may be closed. The chains 17 carrying lugs 18 are driven by anintermittent motion which causes the cases to stop at the set-up stationwhile these operations are performed.

The cases are formed with cutaway parts to form flaps as shown at points80 and 81 (FIGURE 13). The cases are also formed with creases at 80 and31 so that they will hinge at these points in being set up.

To lift the end wall of the case, vacuum cups 116 are mounted on aswinging ar-m 117. The arm 117 is mounted on a shaft 118, the center ofwhich is coaxial with the rear hinge point of the case when the case iscarried into temporarily stationary position at the set-up station bythe lugs 18.

The arm 117 and shaft 118 are carried by a bracket 119 which maybesupported by frame member 11). To operate the arm 117, a second shaft120 may be mounted in bracket 119 and the shafts may have crank arms 122and 121 attached respectively thereto. Link 123 may be pivotallyattached to the ends of arms 121 and 122.

Shaft 120 may also carry crank arm 124 having link 1-25 pivotallyattached thereto at its outer end. The link 125 may be pivotallyattached at its other end to slide bar 26 which may be supported byguiding member 127 which is provided with a series of rollers 128 toreduce friction when the bar 126 is moved by arm 129 which is providedwith slot 130 which receives stud 131 fixed to bar 126.

Lever 129 may be securely fixed to a shaft 132 rotatably mounted in theframe and shaft 132 may be oscillated by a cam 133 mounted on a shaft134 which is rotatably mounted in the frame so that cam =133 driveslever 135 firmly fixed to shaft 134.

The action of cam 133 through levers 135 and 129 and stud 131 may drivethe bar 126 downward to swing the arm 117 and vacuum cups 116 down on tothe folded carton in the position shown in FIGURE 13, acting through thelinkages previously described. The downward movement of lever 129 alsoincreases the tension in the spring 136 which has one end connected tothe lever 129 and the other end connected to the frame.

Vacuum cups 116 may be connected through tubes 137 (only partly shownfor simplicity) to vacuum pump 115 (FIGURE 1). By means of valve 133which may close and open tubes 137 vacuum cups 116 are enabled to holdor release the carton as the valve 138 is operated by cam 139 on shaft134.

The cycle of operations is therefore: first, a case or car-ton 9 iscarried to the position shown in FIGURES 13 and 14. The arm 116 is thenbrought downward so that vacuum cups 116 are pressed onto the uppersurface of the case. Then valve 138 opens so that vacuum is appiled tothe cups. The cam 133 then releases the arm 135 and the spring 136raises the lever 129. By means of the connecting links and levers thearm 117 is hingeably moved to the position shown in FIGURES and 11 andthe vacuum cups bring the upper side of the case to a vertical.

While one side of the case is being raised it is desirable to hold downthe lower side of the case with vacuum cups 141 which are positionedbelow the case. Cups 141 are mounted on a sliding tube 142 supported bybrackets 143. On the tube 142 is a block 144 provided with a stud 145.Tube 142 extends through a helical compression spring 152 which bearsupwardly against the uppermost of brackets 143 and downwardly againstblock 144. A forked lever 146 engages the stud and the lever 146 isfixed as a crank arm to a shaft 147.

The slide bar 126 has an extension 148 carrying a lug 149. Rod 150 ispivotally connected at 140 to crank arm 151 on shaft 147 and extendsslidably through lug 149. At the lower end of rod are nuts positioned sothat when the extension 148 is at the lowest point of travel, the lug149 will act thereagainst to pull rod 150 downward and thereby raise thecups 141 up firmly against the lower side of the case 9. This movementalso compresses spring 152 between block 144 and upper bracket 143.

When cam 133 releases arm 135 and permits spring 136 to raise lever 129,it also allows spring 152 to force downward block 144, tube 142 andvacuum cups 141. The vacuum cups move only a small distance and hold thelower side of case 9 firmly down against the frame members 10 and 10while the upper side is forced into set-up position by cups 116 but theypreferably do not move far enough downward to break the vacuum of thecups.

After the case has been set-up to the position shown in FIGURES l0 and11, two of the vertical flaps shown as flaps 82 and 83 may be closed byarm 153. Arm 153 may be mounted on one end 154 of a bell crank extendedfrom shaft 156. The other end 155 of the bell crank may be connected toan air cylinder 157 by a rod 158. Shaft 156 and cylinder 157 may besupported by a frame 159 attached to frame member 10. Compressed air isadmitted to cylinder 157 through tubing (not shown) extending fromswitch 161 to the cylinder and is controlled by a valve opened at thecorrect time by switch 161 which is operated by arm 162 on shaft 134.

Arm 153 is shown in retracted position in FIGURE 14. This figure alsoshows the arm in dotted outline in a position about halfway through itsstroke. FIG- URES 10 and 11 show the arm in the position of havingclosed the flaps.

The case is formed with upper and lower flaps shown as 84 and 85. It isdesired to spread these flaps outward during at least the initialportion of the time of closing the vertical flaps 82 and 83. To liftflap 84, fingers 164 are mounted on a shaft 165 which is mounted onbracket 163 which is rotated by an arm 166 and rod 167. The rod 167 ismoved by an arm 168 on shaft 155. Another pair of fingers, one of whichis shown at 169, is carried by shaft 155 to press down the lower flap85. The fingers 164 and 169 are positioned so that they engage upper andlower flaps 84 and 85 and push them out of the way just before arm 153begins to close the vertical flaps.

Shaft 134 is driven by a sprocket 110 timed to operate in conjunctionwith chains 17, so that the set-up operation is performed while chains17 are not in motion.

Loading Station In FIGURES 15 and 17 a carton and cans are shown inposition for loading. In FIGURE 18 part of the load ing action is shownas having been completed. In FIG URE 19 the cans are shown as havingbeen forced fully into the carton by loading rams. In FIGURE 20 there isshown the manner in which a portion of the machine may be swung outwardto permit a case to be removed.

In the modified embodiment of FIGURES 21, 22, and 23, two flaps may beplowed open as the carton is moved along the frame prior to reaching theloading station. In FIGURES 24 and 25 and also in FIGURES 26, 27 and 28there are shown additional modified embodiments.

Referring now to FIGURES 15, 16, 17 and 18, attached to main framemembers 10 and 10 there may be provided horizontal bars 213 and 214(FIGURE 16).

Longitudinal bars 215 and 216 and 217 are supported parallel to members10 and 10' by bars 213 and 214 which extend horizontally from member 10'to bar 215 and by bracket members, not shown, but attached to the framemembers 10 and 10'. Two horizontal guide plates 218 and 219 extendbetween bar 216 and bar 217.

Carriage 221 is supported by plate 218 and 219 and can move laterallyalong the plates on wheels 222 above and below the plates which alsoserve to cause tube 220 which depends downward from the carriage, to bemaintained in a vertical position. Tube 221 may also be guided at itslower end by bars 213 and 214- between which it extends.

To move the tube 226 laterally a double acting cylinder 223 is provided.The cylinder is operated by compressed air supplied to tubes 224 fromair valves, not shown, but operating in conjunction with movement of thechains 17.

Cylinder 223 may rotate a vertical shaft 225 thru arm 226 firmlyattached to the shaft. Fixed to the upper and lower ends of shaft 285are arms 227 pivotally connected to links 228 and 229 which arepivotally connected to tube 220. When the cylinder is operated ittherefore moves the tube 229, by means of the arms 227 and links 228 and229, along the guide bars toward the carton.

Furthermore, lever 21]. (FIGURE 1) is operated by carton 9 to closeswitch 212 and thereby indicate that a carton has arrived at the loadingstation; switch 212 is installed as an interlock with the switch (notshown) which governs the operation of cylinder 223, so that rams 233will not operate to drive cans into a carton unless a carton is presentat the loading station to receive the cans.

The cans 100 are supported by a series of decks 231 which arethe bottomsurfaces or members of runways of tracks in which cans are fed to themachine. The decks form inclined planes so that the cans are fed bygravity in the direction of the arrow 101 (FIGURE Vertical tube 220 hasattached to it a series of rams 233, each of which has a wide end at 234to push against a number of cans. The rams are spaced to fit between thedecks and therefore when the tube 220 is moved thru its stroke the cansare pushed into the carton.

As shown in FIGURES 15, 17 and 18 the carton 9 has foldable verticalflaps 92 and 93 and foldable horizontal flaps 94 and 95. To make surethat these flaps are wide open and to provide a funnel for entrance ofthe cans to maintain correct orientation of the cans and preventjamming, a series of hinged smooth plates are positioned at the entranceto the carton.

Two of these funnel plates 238 are attached to vertical shafts 239 whichare journaled in brackets 249. Attached to carriage 221 is plate 241, towhich are attached cam bars 242 and 243. The cam bars are also supportedby guides 244. Shafts 239 have attached to the upper ends, cranks 245which have at their ends rollers 246. Cam bars 242 and 243 have camsurfaces 247 at their ends which are adapted to move rollers 246 so thatwhen tube 220 is moved thru the first part of its stroke, the cam barscause shafts 239 to turn thru 60 to 90". This rotation of shafts 239brings the funnel plates 238 against flaps 92 and 93 and into the cartonas shown in FIGURE 18 to provide smoothly converging sides to guide thecans into the carton.

To provide a smooth entrance for the cans at the lower side of thecarton plate 248 may be mounted on square horizontal shaft 249 which maybe rotated by the linkage shown in FIGURE 16. Tube 220 carries a bracket250 which is provided with a roller 251. Stud 252 on bar 213 pivotallysupports slotted arm 253 and roller 251 operates in the slot of arm 253.The slot is shaped so that the first part of the stroke of the tube 220does not operate the arm; the second part of the stroke moves the arm tothe position shown in dotted lines 253' and the third part of the strokedoes not move the arm. Arm 253 has attached to it arm 254. Shaft 248 hasattached to it interposed between collars 283 and 294 are springs 205.

Arm 254 is provided at its end with an aperture through which rod 256passes so that collars 204 are urged against opposite sides of the endof arm 254- by springs 265.

'When arm 253 is moved it will therefore turn shaft 249 thru 60 to 90 tobring plate 248 down on flap 95 so 8 that plate 248 then provides asmooth runway for the cans 100 to slide on.

Near the upper surface of the carton may be another square shaft 257rotatably mounted in brackets 258. Shaft 257 carries plate 259 whichnormally hangs in a vertical position by gravity. As the cans are forcedinto the carton the upper layer of cans force the plate 259 under theflap 94 to open it somewhat and assure smooth entrance of the cans.

One of the features of the machine of our invention is that it can loadone layer of cans into a carton, or, by adjustment, load two layers ofcans into a carton as indicated in FIGURE 18. To accomplish the latterthe rams are caused to make two loading strokes while the carton remainsin the position shown. The distance moved in the loading stroke by rams233 may be the same for loading both the first and second layer of cans,the ends of the rams being approximately at line 86 which is the hingepoint of the carton flaps at the end of each stroke. Ac-- cordingly, thestroke of the rams is not long enough todrive the first layer cans fullyinto the carton. To cause the first layer of cans to travel theremaining distance into each carton, they may be given a sufficientlyhigh velocity by the rams that inertia carries them at least part of theremaining distance and may be provided in a housing 262 against whichthe carton rests to create a magnetic field which may act on the cans tocause them to travel the entire distance into the carton.

Thus, as shown in FIGURE 18 a first layer of cans 100 after being loadedinto the carton may be held in place by magnets 261 while a second layerof cans 100 is being forced past the funnel plates by rams 233.

A preferred sequence of operations may thus be as follows:

A carton is carried into position by chains 17 and lugs 18 and operateslever 211 to close switch 212 (FIGURE 1) and cause the cans resting onhinged portion 326 of lowermost deck 331 to maintain switch 328 closed.The air cylinder 223 begins to move tube 220 and carrying, rams 233. Thecam surfaces 247 of cam bars 242 and 243 turn funnel plates 238 so thatplates 238 extend intothe carton and force carton flaps 92 and 93somewhat outwardly. Shaft 249 is turned to cause plate 248 to hold downflap 95 and extend into the carton as a ramp on which the cans cantravel. The cans are pushed forward by rams 233 and they force plate 259into the position shown in FIGURE 18 to guide cans into the carton. Atthe end of the ram stroke rams 233 stop moving toward the carton but thecans due to their inertia continue to move into the carton.

As the cans leave rams 233 and travel into the carton, toward the closedflaps 82 and 83, they may enter the field of magnets 261 and be drawnwith rapidly increasing force, as they approach the magnets, toward andagainst flaps 82 and 33 and may be held thereagainst by the field ofsaid magnets acting thereupon.

After the return stroke of the rams, a second layer of cans may be fedalong the inclined surfaces of the decks and into position to be carriedby a second stroke of the rams into the carton. The carton is thencarried away by the chains and the next carton brought into position.

Referring now to FIGURE 19 there is shown a modified embodiment whereinthe rams have sufiicient stroke to force the cans fully into the carton.In this case no magnets are used but a plate 263 holds the carton inposition.

Magnet housing 262 or plate 263 is suported so that it can be swung outof position to permit sidewise manual removal of a case 9 from theloading station if this should be necessary due to jamming of the cansin the case or other malfunction at the loading station.

Arms 264 are attached to housing 262 or plate 263 by members 262 or 263and are hingably supported on hinge bar 265 mounted in bracket 266. Arms264 are normally held upright by latch 267 on pin 268. The

9 latch can be raised and the frame swung outward as shown in FIGURE 20.Counter weight 269 may be attached to arms 264 to balance the weight ofmagnets 26]. and housing 262 or the weight of plate 263 and thusfacilitate raising the unit back to the upright position.

In FIGURES 21, 22 and 23 there is shown means for plowing outward theupper and lower horizontal flaps of the case in place of utilizingplates 248 and 259 and the mechanism for operating them. Plates 270 and271 are supported by suitable brackets 260 which may be attached to Theplates have inclined surfaces at 272 and 273 and when a case is carriedalong the frame by lugs 18 the horizontal flaps 94 and 95 of the caseare plowed open by plates 271) and 271, which thereupon act as funnelmembers to direct cans into the carton. Side funnel members may beprovided by plates 238 which may be operated through links 274 pivotallyattached at point 275 by solenoids 276.and 277, as an alternative tobeing operated by cams 242 and 243.

As shown in FIGURES 24 and 25, plate 243 mounted on shaft 249 may beoperated by utilizing a spring in place of the mechanism of FIGURE 16.Shaft 249 may be provided with crank arm 278 having tension spring 279attached to the end thereof so that plate 248 is normally held uprightby the action of spring 279. When cans are forced into the case as shownin FIGURE 25, plate 248 is forced by the cans toward a horizontalposition and holds down the case flap 95 and provides a smooth ramp ortunneling member to guide the cans 1% into carton 9.

Referring now to FIGURES 26, 27 and 28, flaps 92, 93, 94 and 95 may bemoved out of the way of entering cans by mechanism operating at both theset up station and the loading station and also between these twostations.

The forward end flap 93 is first opened to a position where it can beplowed back. This is accomplished at the set up station by an arm 281mounted on a shaft 2822 supported by the frame. Connected to the shaft282 is an arm 233 operated by a cylinder 284, The piston of which ispivotally connected to the outer end of arm 283 at 2%. Cylinder 284 maybe connected to the source of air which operates air cylinder .157 totuck in flaps 32 and 83 as shown in FIGURES 14 and 11 and cylinder 284may thus be operated simultaneously with cylinder 157.

As the case is moved forward by chains 17 the vertical flaps 82 and d3may then be plowed back by plates 235 and 286 and then held open byedges 299 and 300 of plates 289 and 299 until the case moves to theposition where flap 93 is held open by plates 301 and 302. Horizontalflaps 94 and 95 are plowed open by inclined bars 287 and 288 and thuswhen the case reaches the loading position all four front flaps areopen.

Vertical flaps 92 and 93 are held open as the case passes the loadingstation by edges 299 and 300 of movable plates 289 and 2% which preventthese flaps from returning to their previous position. Plates 289 and29%) are fixedly attached to shafts 293 and 294 which are journaled inbrackets not shown and are provided with crank arms 295 and 297. Thesearms may be acted on by solenoids 291 and 292 through links 296 and 298,each pivotally connected at each end, to rotate shafts 293 and 294.After the case 9 is in position for loading at the loading station andbefore cans 10f} begin to enter the case, the plates 289 and 29-3 aremoved to the position shown by lines 289 and 290' by solenoids 291 and292 while flaps 93 and 92 are held in open position respectively byplates 3631 and 362 and by plates 285 and 286.

In FIGURES 29, 30, 31 and 32 and 33 there is shown means whereby rams233 may be caused to operate either once or twice while a case is at theloading station to load respectively either one layer of cans or twolayers of cans into the case. The mechanism comprises switches 313 and314; switch 313 is operated by three-lobed cam 315 and switch 314 isoperated by six-lobed cam 316. The cams are mounted firmly on cam shaft317 turned by ratchet wheel 313 which is mounted thereon and driven bypawl 319 which is pi votally attached to lever 32%); lever 329 isrotatabiy mounted to rotate around the axis of shaft 317 and restrainedfrom such rotation by tension spring 323 attached to one end thereof. Onone end of lever 320 is a roller 321 operated by a cam 322 mounted onthe cam bar 242, which moves with the stroke of the loading rams 233.When the cam 322 is in the position shown in FIGURE 31 (at one extremeof the stroke of bar 242) the spring 323 has turned lever 321 and pawl319 to a new position. The position of the elements at the other end ofthe stroke of ram 233 and bar 242 is shown in FIGURE 29 and during thestroke of ram 233 and bar 242, while roller 321 is operated by cam 322to move lever 321, pawl 319 turns the ratchet wheel and cams 60 degrees,so that at each stroke earn 316 operates switch 314 but switch 313 isoperated only every second stroke. Either switch may be placed incircuit with the chain driving means by switches not shown. With switch314 in circuit the case is moved forward after each ram stroke. Withswitch 313 in circuit the case is moved forward after every second ramstroke.

The speed of the machine of our invention is accomplished by the actionin combination of nearly all of its elements rather than by anyessential or critical single element or concept in the machine and themany factors and elements hereinbefore described contribute towardachieving such speed.

These contributions can be divided into two categories, the firstcategory being those elements and inter-relationships which contributetoward accomplishing high speed when nothing is awry, for example, whenall of the cases in the magazine meet every specification as to shapeand size and have not been battered or otherwise damaged in shipping,when the cams themselves are undamaged and unbattered and do not turnsidewise or otherwise get out of position in the tracks (the tracksbeing of conventional prior art form) and when every element in themachine does its job just as it is supposed to do, for example, when novacuum cup misses its grip, when lugs 18 and finger 40 do not fail toseparate one and only one carton from the pile, when flaps of the cartonare closed in the proper way and at the proper time, when no can turnssidewise as it is loaded into the carton, etc. Thus, speed isaccomplished by providing elements which cooperating in combinationprovide high speed when no such malfunction occurs. Secondly, a highspeed is provided when the elements cooperate in combination with anabsolute and extreme minimum of malfunction on the part of any oneelement.

But the second catgory consists of reducing to a minimum the time whichmay be lost as a result of interruption of the process due to jamming orother malfunction and the damage caused to cans, cases or machine whenany such malfunctioning occurs.

It may be seen from the foregoing detailed description that thecooperation of elements 18, 49 and finger as and its driving mechanismat the unpiling station uniquely operate to separate one and only onecarton from the pile and feed it to the next station in the machine evenwhen the cartons have been damaged badly in shipping, as for example isthe case when a stack of cartons are strapped with steel strapping andthen dropped heavily so that the strapping bites deeply into the edges,or when a stack of cartons strapped with steel strapping is dropped fromthe height onto a corner of the stack. These elements of the magazineand feeding station also cooperate to feed a carton from the pile to thenext station when only one, two or three cartons remain in the pile andthis achievement is especially outstanding when it is ob

